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Preakness Stakes

When: 6:20 p.m. Saturday

Where: Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore

TV: NBC-13

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Baltimore

At one end of the long Stakes Barn at Pimlico Race Course, Shug McGaughey, the trainer everyone wants to talk to, answered questions about Orb. McGaughey sat on a folding chair on an elevated stand and talked about Orb's chances in the Preakness, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown.

At the opposite end of the long Stakes Barn at Pimlico, the man with the white cowboy hat could have been dancing with a polar bear, and no one who was hanging on McGaughey's every word would have taken a second look.

McGaughey and Orb are without question the team to beat in the 138th Preakness, which will be run at Pimlico at 6:20 Saturday night.

And that is just fine with the man in the white hat who answers to the name of D. Wayne Lukas. The 77-year-old Hall of Famer is showing no signs of slowing down, and here he is, trying to keep Orb from a date with thoroughbred history in the June 8 Belmont Stakes.

Nine horses were entered Wednesday for the 13/16-mile Preakness, and three of them will be saddled by Lukas. Oxbow, the sixth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, and Will Take Charge, who was eighth, already have lost to Orb. Titletown Five, owned in part by 1960s Green Bay Packers stars Paul Hornung and Willie Davis, won the Derby Trial at Churchill Downs on April 27 and is making his Triple Crown debut.

"I might be dangerous here," said Lukas, who'd be confident if he were running the 100-meter dash against Usain Bolt.

Lukas will turn 78 in September, and the word retirement is still not in his vocabulary. Success at the Preakness is. He has won the race five times, and no trainer has started more horses in the biggest event on the Maryland racing calendar.

Counting the three expected horses this weekend, Lukas will have started 40 in the Preakness. The only trainer close to him is fellow Hall of Famer Nick Zito, who has sent 21.

"The coach is always tough on the big days," said trainer Doug O'Neill, who will saddle Goldencents in the Preakness. "You always have to be concerned about him. His horses are well-bred, they are well cared for. Of course, he's always a threat."

Lukas hasn't won the Preakness since 1999 (Charistmatic) and hasn't had a horse hit the board since Scrimshaw was third in 2003.

"You only get so many opportunities in a year with a good 3-year-old," he said. "This year, I feel very fortunate. Of the six (3-year-olds) I bought, three of them are in the Preakness. I am pretty proud about that."

On further review in the Derby, one could say that Will Take Charge could have had a better finish. On the turn for home, that colt was stride-for-stride with Orb but had his forward progress stalled when he had to change direction after a tiring horse (Verrazano) backed up into him.

Lukas said Wednesday that if it had been a clean trip, Will Take Charge would have finished third for sure, maybe second. In the Preakness, Will Take Charge will have a new rider, as Jon Court is off and Hall of Famer Mike Smith is on.

Lukas thinks Will Take Charge and Oxbow, with his early speed, could be real factors in the Preakness. And he warns not to discount Titletown Five, who very well could be the longest shot on the board.

"I feel very comfortable with my horses," Lukas said. "But I am not running for second. That's not my style."